In general, the operation of a typical pay telephone involves the receipt of coins deposited in the pay telephone by a user of the telephone and the establishing of a communication session between the pay telephone's user and a called party associated with a telephone number input by the user. If, for some reason, the communication session cannot be established (i.e., due to a wrong number being input by the user, the called party does not answer, etc.), the user either hangs-up the telephone's handset or operates the telephone's hookswitch and the deposited coins are released by the telephone's coin escrow device (i.e., which holds deposited and accepted coins until a communication session is established successfully) for removal from the pay telephone by the user through a coin return opening generally located near the bottom of the pay telephone. Coins are also sometimes released from the telephone's coin acceptor/rejector by user operation of the telephone's coin release lever. In order to reach the coin return opening, the returned coins generally travel through some sort of coin return chute, or channel, descending within the pay telephone between the coin escrow device, the coin acceptor/rejector, and the coin return opening.
Unfortunately, many resourceful thieves have discovered that it is possible to abscond with the returned coins by blocking, or "stuffing", the chute with a foreign object positioned at a location sufficiently far up into the chute so as to avoid ready detection and removal by a representative of the pay telephone's owner. Then, whenever coins are released by the coin escrow device or coin acceptor/rejector, they are stopped from falling through the entire length of the chute to the coin return opening by the foreign object and are, instead, trapped within the chute above the foreign object to await collection by the thief. In order to collect the trapped coins, the thief merely removes the foreign object at a later time, thereby enabling the released, but trapped coins to continue their fall through the chute to the coin return opening where the thief removes and pockets the coins.
Over the years, pay telephone owners have discovered that the thieves employ a number of techniques to "stuff" a pay telephone. All of the techniques commonly involve the insertion of a foreign object which is, typically, a piece of cloth, paper, or other flexible material into the chute, but vary somewhat in the way in which the foreign object is introduced into the chute. For instance, one technique, known as traditional "stuffing", involves inserting a foreign object into the coin return opening and then pushing the foreign object upward into position within the coin return chute with a reasonably stiff, yet bendable piece of wire. A second technique, known as "stringing", involves the preparation of a specially-modified coin, or slug, and its subsequent introduction into the coin receiving slot near the top of the pay telephone. Prior to insertion of the modified coin, the thief drills a hole through the coin and secures a thin first string to the modified coin by passing a first end of the first string through the hole and then by knotting the first end of the string to retain the modified coin. Once inserted into the coin acceptance slot, the thief holds on to a second end of the first string while the modified coin and a portion of the first string descend through the pay telephone with the modified coin either being rejected by a coin acceptor/rejector mechanism and directed into the coin return chute, or being accepted by the coin acceptor/rejector mechanism and held by the telephone's coin escrow device until released into the coin return chute by operation of the telephone's coin release lever by the thief. In either case, the modified coin falls through the chute to the coin return opening where the thief replaces the modified coin at the first end of the first string with a foreign object and a second string having a first end attached to the foreign object. The thief, pulling on the second end of the first string, pulls the foreign object upward into the coin return chute until the second end of the second string is barely visible in the coin return opening. Thereafter, subsequently returned coins are trapped within the coin return chute above the foreign object. The thief then returns to the pay telephone after a period of time, accesses the second end of the second string through the coin return opening, and pulls on the second end of the second string to remove the foreign object via the coin return opening. Once the foreign object is removed, the previously trapped coins descend through the coin return chute to the coin return opening for removal by the thief.
In addition to enabling the theft of released coins from a pay telephone, stuffing and/or attempted stuffing of a pay telephone by a thief can cause damage to various internal components of the pay telephone and can render the telephone inoperable. Damage is also often caused by vandals whose primary desire is to see if they can render a pay telephone inoperable, rather than to steal money from the pay telephone. Like the thieves, vandals employ a number of different techniques to vandalize a pay telephone. One of the more popular techniques seems to be the introduction and subsequent detonation of fireworks within the pay telephone's coin return chute.
Shock waves, created by the detonation, travel upward through the coin return chute generally damaging the chute and various other components of the pay telephone.
Prior efforts, although extensive, to prevent the stuffing and vandalism of pay telephones have not been completely effective. Accordingly, a need yet remains in the art for a tamperresistant coin return apparatus and method which prevent stuffing and damage due to vandalism. It is to the provision of such a coin return apparatus and method that the present invention is primarily directed.